The present invention relates to an electric device being a small electric mobile unit such as an electric scooter, an electric bicycle, an electric wheelchair, an electric cart, an electric walker for an aged person, or the like, which uses a relatively large secondary battery as a power source, and to an electric device system in which the electric device is connected with a portable device (a portable-type information processing device) such as a notebook personal computer or the like and supplies electric power thereto and the portable device is made usable as a display means or an inputting means.
Conventionally, there is an electric vehicle including a storage battery pack composed of a plurality of storage batteries mounted as a power source such as an electric bicycle or an electric wheel chair. Among electric vehicles of this type, some run only by a driving force of a motor which is driven by electric energy (electric power) from the mounted storage battery pack, some run by a resultant force of a driving force of a motor and human power, some switch and use a driving force of a gasoline engine and a driving force of a motor, and the like.
There is a need of using portable devices such as a palmtop personal computer, a notebook personal computer and the like in these conventional small electric vehicles. In the status quo, however, when these small electric vehicles are moving, it is impossible to use these portable devices in operation of the electric vehicles and thus the portable devices are only a burden. Further, the aforementioned portable devices are operated by a battery, and therefore there is a demand that the battery always be kept in a state of being fully charged or nearly fully charged to eliminate occurrence of a problem of battery exhaustion during their use.
Furthermore, these portable devices have display ability capable of sufficiently displaying a speedometer, a tachometer, a fuel gauge, an odometer (an integrating traveling distance meter), a tripmeter (an integrating traveling distance meter with a reset function), and so on, necessary in an instrument panel of the electric vehicle.
In a conventional four-wheeled vehicle such as a gasoline-powered vehicle, a vehicle driven by combination of gasoline and a battery, an electric vehicle, or the like, the vehicle has a power supply such as a rather large battery or power generator for the performance of the vehicle, or a large number of electronic devices already exist in a car. Therefore, the power supply is taken outside as a power source for the aforesaid portable devices, which has facilitated the supply of electric power to the portable devices.
On the other hand, in the case of a small two-wheeled vehicle such as a scooter, not many vehicles have a device called an electronic device attended therein in the status quo, in which some vehicles have a very small battery as a power source or some do not even have such a battery. Further, the small battery itself has great noise from a power generator coupled to a small engine and large variation in voltage, and thus it is a less-than-stable power source.
Moreover, even in a small electric vehicle such as an electric bicycle, an electric wheelchair, an electric cart, an electric walker for an aged person, or the like, having thereon a relatively large battery and being capable of supplying a relatively stable power supply, there is no vehicle that supplies a power supply to the outside. The portable devices carried by the small electric vehicles during movement become only a burden as general baggage, and the vehicles can not prepare (charge or the like) for their use.
It is an object of the present invention to improve the aforementioned conventional disadvantage in the small electric device, more specifically to make it possible to supply power to a portable device, particularly to a portable information processing device including an input means and a display means so as to effectively use display/input functions thereof, and thereby, by the use of an ID or a password from the portable device connected thereto, to improve the prevention of unauthorized use and theft of the electric device.
In order to attain the above objects, the present invention provides an electric device and an electric device system configured as follows:
An electric device according to the invention has a power supply including a rechargeable secondary battery, an electric motor operated by electric power supplied from the power supply, a driver for driving the electric motor, and a controller for monitoring, managing, and controlling the driver and the whole device.
The electric device is characterized by comprising: a portable device power supply to which a portable device is connectable and which supplies electric power to the connected portable device; and a key switch having a first switch interposed in a main power line for supplying electric power from the power supply to the controller and the driver, and a second switch interposed in a power line for supplying electric power from the power supply to the portable device power supply, in which the first switch is turned on at a second key position and the second switch is turned on at a first key position and the second key position.
Alternatively, the electric device is characterized by comprising: a portable device power supply to which a portable device is connectable and which supplies to the connected portable device electric power supplied from the power supply; and a portable device interface means for communicating information with the connected portable device.
Further, an electric device system according to the invention is constituted by the aforesaid electric device and a portable device having a display and connected to the portable device power supply for communicating information with the electric device via the portable device interface means, and is characterized in that display information of the electric device is displayed on the portable device.
Alternatively, the electric device system may be constituted by the aforesaid electric device, and a portable device for communicating information with the electric device via the portable device interface means, connected to the portable device power supply, wherein the portable device is provided with means for sending out ID data of a program operating therein to the electric device, and the electric device is provided with means for determining authorization/prohibition of operation of the electric device based on the ID data received from the portable device.
Further, it is also preferable that the portable device is provided with means for sending out an inputted password to the electric device, and the electric device is provided with means for determining authorization/prohibition of operation of the electric device based on the password received from the portable device.
Furthermore, it is more preferable that the portable device is provided with means for sending out ID data of a program operating therein to the electric device and means for sending out an inputted password to the electric device, and the electric device is provided with means for determining authorization/prohibition of operation of the electric device based on the ID data and the password received from the portable device.
It is also possible that, in the electric device system, the electric device is provided with a switch for controlling a supply of electric power from the power supply to the portable device power supply, and means for enabling electric power supply from the portable device power supply by turning on the switch when at least one of the ID data and the password received from the portable device matches a previously registered ID data or password.
It is also possible that, in these electric device systems, the portable device is provided with means for sending out inputted operation mode specification information to the electric device, and the electric device is provided with means for controlling the operation of the electric device and/or operation of the portable device power supply in accordance with the operation mode specification information from the portable device.
It is desirable that the power supply in these electric devices or electric device systems is a power supply comprising a rechargeable battery unit constituted by paring a storage battery pack being the secondary battery and a memory for storing at least information on charge and discharge states of the storage battery pack.